Dhoni's day in the sun

Some statistics, like Bradman's average and the number of centuries Gavaskar made, are known to pretty much every cricket buff. But The List will bring you facts and figures that aren't so obvious, adding fuel to those fiery debates about the most valuable middle-order bat, and the most useless tailender. If there's a particular List that you would like to see, e-mail us with your comments and suggestions.

Sri Lanka were blindsided by a calculated assault from Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the third ODI against India and en route to his unbeaten 183, Dhoni forced his way into a few record books.

By the time he hammered the last of his ten sixes - the most by an Indian in an innings and the second highest in ODIs - Dhoni had surpassed Adam Gilchrist's record for the highest score by a wicketkeeper in a one-day match but a more significant record was broken about 30 runs earlier.

As he strode past 153, Dhoni broke Brian Lara's record for the highest individual score in the second innings of an ODI. Dhoni's innings leads some of one-day cricket's most memorable batting performances, none more so than Lara's majestic 153 against Pakistan and Sachin Tendulkar's back-to-back centuries against Australia at Sharjah.

Right through his innings, Dhoni had shown the preference for the big hit rather than the quickly-scampered double and by the end of his effort, he had a world record to show for it. With 15 fours and ten sixes, Dhoni totaled 120 runs in boundaries, the highest in a one-day innings, eclipsing Saeed Anwar's record-breaking 194 against India in Chennai.

India's successful run-chase was virtually The Dhoni Show with a few batsmen playing supporting roles but nobody scoring more than Virender Sehwag's 39. This massive 144-run gulf between Dhoni's 183 and Sehwag's 39 is the fourth highest in terms of difference between the highest and second highest scores in an innings.

Trivia

In the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Jaipur, both Kumar Sangakkara and Dhoni hit centuries, making it the first match in which both the wicketkeepers have hit hundreds.

Readers request

After featuring the players involved in the most Test wins and losses, several readers wanted the same lists for one-day cricket. Click here to find out if Sanath Jayasuriya, Inzamam-ul-Haq or Steve Waugh has played in the most ODI wins.

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